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Sustainable irrigation: How did irrigated agriculture in Australia's Murray–Darling Basin adapt in the Millennium Drought?

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  • Kirby, Mac
  • Bark, Rosalind
  • Connor, Jeff
  • Qureshi, M. Ejaz
  • Keyworth, Scott

Abstract

The recent drought in south-eastern Australia saw the lowest inflows on record in the Murray–Darling Basin in 2006. As reservoirs were drawn down water availability for irrigation was cut. In 2007–2008 and 2008–2009, irrigators received about one third of their pre-drought allocations. Understanding how the irrigation sector adapted to less water will help planning for the next drought and a future in which irrigation water use will be reduced permanently in the basin.

Suggested Citation

  • Kirby, Mac & Bark, Rosalind & Connor, Jeff & Qureshi, M. Ejaz & Keyworth, Scott, 2014. "Sustainable irrigation: How did irrigated agriculture in Australia's Murray–Darling Basin adapt in the Millennium Drought?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 154-162.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:145:y:2014:i:c:p:154-162
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2014.02.013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Adamson & Thilak Mallawaarachchi & John Quiggin, 2009. "Declining inflows and more frequent droughts in the Murray-Darling Basin: climate change, impacts and adaptation ," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 53(3), pages 345-366, July.
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    4. Wheeler, Sarah Ann & Zuo, Alec & Bjornlund, Henning, 2014. "Investigating the delayed on-farm consequences of selling water entitlements in the Murray-Darling Basin," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 72-82.
    5. M Ejaz Qureshi & Tian Shi & Sumaira Qureshi & Wendy Proctor & Mac Kirby, 2009. "Removing Barriers to Facilitate Efficient Water Markets in the Murray Darling Basin – A Case Study from Australia," Socio-Economics and the Environment in Discussion (SEED) Working Paper Series 2009-02, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.
    6. Loch, Adam & Bjornlund, Henning & Wheeler, Sarah & Connor, Jeff, 2012. "Allocation trade in Australia: a qualitative understanding or irrigator motives and behaviour," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 56(1), pages 1-19, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. R. Quentin Grafton, 2017. "Editorial — Water Reform and Planning in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(03), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Kaune, Alexander & Werner, Micha & Rodríguez, Erasmo & Karimi, Poolad & de Fraiture, Charlotte, 2017. "A novel tool to assess available hydrological information and the occurrence of sub-optimal water allocation decisions in large irrigation districts," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 229-238.
    3. Sarah Ann Wheeler & Ying Xu & Alec Zuo, 2020. "Modelling the climate, water and socio-economic drivers of farmer exit in the Murray-Darling Basin," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 551-574, February.
    4. Monjardino, Marta & Harrison, Matthew T. & DeVoil, Peter & Rodriguez, Daniel & Sadras, Victor O., 2022. "Agronomic and on-farm infrastructure adaptations to manage economic risk in Australian irrigated broadacre systems: A case study," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    5. M. E. Qureshi & M. D. Ahmad & S. M. Whitten & A. Reeson & M. Kirby, 2018. "Impact of Climate Variability Including Drought on the Residual Value of Irrigation Water Across the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 4(01), pages 1-25, January.
    6. Grafton, R. Quentin & Horne, James, 2014. "Water markets in the Murray-Darling Basin," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 61-71.
    7. Zuo, Alec & Qiu, Feng & Wheeler, Sarah Ann, 2019. "Examining volatility dynamics, spillovers and government water recovery in Murray-Darling Basin water markets," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    8. Isabella Aitkenhead & Yuriy Kuleshov & Andrew B. Watkins & Jessica Bhardwaj & Atifa Asghari, 2021. "Assessing agricultural drought management strategies in the Northern Murray–Darling Basin," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 109(2), pages 1425-1455, November.
    9. Juliane Haensch & Sarah Ann Wheeler & Alec Zuo, 2021. "Explaining permanent and temporary water market trade patterns within local areas in the southern Murray–Darling Basin," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 65(2), pages 318-348, April.
    10. King, Darran A. & Meyer, Wayne S. & Connor, Jeffery D., 2019. "Interactive land use strategic assessment: An assessment tool for irrigation profitability under climate uncertainty," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 1-1.
    11. Freire-González, Jaume & Decker, Christopher & Hall, Jim W., 2017. "The Economic Impacts of Droughts: A Framework for Analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 196-204.
    12. Wheeler, Sarah Ann & Zuo, Alec & Bjornlund, Henning, 2014. "Investigating the delayed on-farm consequences of selling water entitlements in the Murray-Darling Basin," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 72-82.
    13. Sarah Ann Wheeler, 2022. "Debunking Murray‐Darling Basin water trade myths," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 66(4), pages 797-821, October.
    14. Wheeler, Sarah Ann & Marning, Angelika, 2019. "Turning water into wine: Exploring water security perceptions and adaptation behaviour amongst conventional, organic and biodynamic grape growers," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 528-537.
    15. R. Quentin Grafton & James Horne & Sarah Ann Wheeler, 2016. "On the Marketisation of Water: Evidence from the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 30(3), pages 913-926, February.
    16. David A. Fleming‐Muñoz & Stuart Whitten & Graham D. Bonnett, 2023. "The economics of drought: A review of impacts and costs," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(4), pages 501-523, October.
    17. Jadwiga R. Ziolkowska, 2016. "Socio-Economic Implications of Drought in the Agricultural Sector and the State Economy," Economies, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-11, September.
    18. Allyson Williams & Neil White & Shahbaz Mushtaq & Geoff Cockfield & Brendan Power & Louis Kouadio, 2015. "Quantifying the response of cotton production in eastern Australia to climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 183-196, March.
    19. Roobavannan, M. & Kandasamy, J. & Pande, S. & Vigneswaran, S. & Sivapalan, M., 2017. "Allocating Environmental Water and Impact on Basin Unemployment: Role of A Diversified Economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 178-188.
    20. Jo Kneebone & Belinda Wilson, 2017. "Design and Early Implementation of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 3(03), pages 1-16, July.

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